FREE DAY 6 What's happening in the by-election campaigns in the state constituencies of Kerdau and Merlimau? Quotable quotes, planned events and unplanned incidents as they take place.

 

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8am Kerdau: The Malaysian Indian Congress (Kimma) repairs the house of a single mother at Desa Murni.

9.01am Merlimau: More and more print campaign material emerges, painting Pakatan as anti Malay and anti Islam.

Most do not bear party logos but several were seen distributed by Puteri Umno during BN candidate Roslan Ahmad's visit to the Pasar Malam yesterday.

9.30am Merlimau: Deputy Federal Territories Minister Hasan Malek to launch a Risda programme in Chinchin.

10am Kerdau: Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Maximus Ongkili launches the Sirim Pintar -Learning and Sirim Robokit for six primary schools in Kerdau, at SK Paya Taram. He will later attend the SMK Kerdau PTA general meeting and Cybersafe in School programme at 11am.

10am Merlimau: Chief minister Mohd Ali Rustam to launch 1Malaysia Health Programme at Politeknik Merlimau.

10.52am

Merlimau: PAS candidate Yuhaizad Abdullah and his campaigning team, is seen on a moving vehicle with a loud hailer, urging constituents to vote for him.

11am Merlimau: PAS daily press conference.

11am Kerdau: PAS to hold its daily press conference.

11.45am Kerdau: Persatuan Anak Felda Kebangsaan (Anak) president Mazlan Aliman attacks Umno for using youths to hold a protest to disrupt the PAS campaign in Felda last night.

"They are being used by Umno," he claims of the group, which he says held up banners that read "bukan anak soleh" (not a good son) and "haram jadah", which is equivalent to a four-letter swear word in English.

Youths have also disrupted Anwar's ceramah on Tuesday night in Merlimau.

Meanwhile PAS vice-president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man says 22 of their banners and numerous flags were taken down without their knowledge over the course of the campaign.

The party will lodge a police report on the matter.

1.10pm Merlimau: BN's schedule is packed with back-to-back walk-abouts, programme launches and cultural shows attended by cabinet ministers, including Women, Family and Community Development Minister Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumer Affairs' Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob, Rural Development Minister Shafie Apdal, Tourism Minister Ng Yen Yen and Home Minister Hishamuddin Hussein.

Also on the campaign trail are Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports Razali Ibrahim and Deputy Minister of Health Rosnah Abdul Rashid Shirlin.

1.30pm Merlimau: BN candidate Roslan Ahmad to accompany the Minister of Domestic Trade, Cooperative and Consumer Affairs' to distribute donations of 20 laptops and put on 1Malaysia stickers onto 55 taxis.

2pm Merlimau: Yuhaizad is promising a "surprise" in front of the DAP operations room.

2pm Merlimau : Roslan to distribute hampers from the Ministry of Domestic Trade, Cooperative and Consumer Affairs at a Puteri Umno event at the bus stop.

2.25pm Merlimau: PAS candidate Yuhaizad Abdullah has his hair trimmed at a saloon near  town.

Yuhaizad's move to give out flowers to constituents has earned him the nickname ‘Romeo Merlimau', a hint that he needs such means to win votes.

However Yuhaizad retorts that the BN candidate is copying him.

"The BN (candidate) gives flowers as well. If I am a Romeo, so is he," he retorts, before entering the saloon.

Yuhaizad denies he's fighting a losing battle, after six days of campaigning.

He claims to have visited 75 percent of voters, and that the response so far is encouraging.

He also denies that the PAS ceramah have failed to attract the crowd, although they have reviewed their outreach strategies, and are now using a loudhailer while campaigning in residential areas.

Yuhaizad adds he will try his luck to reach the voters at the Sime Darby plantation, which is said to have barred the Pakatan campaign team from entering. 

2.30pm Kerdau: Defence Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi will present Pingat Jasa Malaysia (PJM) and welfare aid for army veterans at Dataran Sri Ketumbit.

3pm Kerdau: The Election Commission will issue postal votes for EC and police officers and oversee their casting of ballots at the Temerloh Municipal Council and police station.

3.40pm Tongod: Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin is confident that the BN will win in the by-elections for the Kerdau and Merlimau, reports Bernama .

"The BN leadership has not been keeping quiet over what transpired during the 2008 general election. The message from the people is that you cannot shake legs, you have to get down on the ground and help them in a determined manner," he said.

3.45pm Merlimau: Home Minister Hishamuddin Hussein will launch a Rela event in Merlimau Point.

3.51pm Merlimau: Rela volunteers wait for Home Minister Hishamuddin Hussein at a Majlis Ramah Mesra KDN. It's sweltering and Hishamuddin is running late.

4.28pm Merlimau: CM Mohd Ali Rustam tells the crowd that Malacca is so safe from crime that he can go jogging at 2am without issues, and that his home doesn't even have a perimeter fence.

He reveals that Malacca's rate of drug users are also about a third of that in Kelantan, as is the divorce rate.

Ali Rustam then adds he has the rank of brigadier general in Rela, while Hishamuddin (Hussein) is a general. "Everyone should listen to the general's instruction, and that is, to vote BN on March 6." 

5pm Merlimau: Lim Kit Siang is due to arrive and is slated to go on a walkabout with PAS candidate Yuhaizad in the town area.

5.30pm Kerdau: Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Jamil Khir Baharom will visit the media centre at Desa Murni.

Later at 7pm, Jamil will attend a Majlis Bacaan Yasin dan Tahlil and dinner at the Felda Jengka 23 mosque.

The minister in charge of Islamic affairs will then go for a meet-and-greet with Felda Jengka 25 residents at 9.40pm.

5.30pm Merlimau: Rural Development Minister Shaife Apdal to go house-to-house at the Kempas Devon estate, which was yesterday out of bounds for Pakatan Rakyat campaigners.

6pm Merlimau : Roslan and Puteri Umno to distribute female magazines and 70 hampers at Politeknik Merlimau. 

6pm : CM Mohd Ali and Hishammuddin spends much of their speeches slamming Pakatan's ‘Buku Jingga' saying that they don't even know of its existence, let alone copy from it.

Hishammuddin adds that Hindraf detainees who were arrested last Sunday were treated well, provided with thosai, chapati, pappadum and water, but all was refused.

"Of course it came out that the police abused them," he said.

At the press conference later he said that the police did not want to use water cannons and tear gas onto the demonstrators at KLCC on Sunday because they did not want to end up on CNN and al-Jazeera, side by side with Libya.

6.10pm Merlimau: Rural and Regional Development Minister Shafie Apdal arrives at Sime Darby Kempas Plantation to attend a get together with some 130 voters.

MIC Batu Gajah chairman R Ragavan in his speech, says MIC has contacted 1200 Indian voters out of 1569 voters, and expresses confidence in getting 80 percent of them to vote for BN.

Meanwhile, Shafie says we should measure a country by its harmony, not by its development.

"This is not Egypt, we have elections and by-elections every year, and we have lost as well. This shows we are a democratic society."

He also announces allocations of RM8000 to upgrade roads, and RM2000 for local activities.

6.20pm Merlimau: CM Mohd Ali ( right ) catches a few winks of sleep during a press conference with Hishamuddin, only to be jolted awake when the cabinet minister grabs his hand. He dozes off again in the next minute, despite Hishamuddin's hand on his.

6.40pm Merlimau: Hishammuddin says that Merlimau is the best by-election in terms of security and Permatang Pauh was the worst in all the 17 by-elections since 2008.

Asked of the incidents of smashed car windows, he says with a broad smile: "I find it strange that the car was smashed in front of (DAP's) own operations room."

But he denies that he was implying that the cars were smashed by members of the opposition themselves.

When queried about the vehicles that were vandalised when their owners went to watch Anwar speak, he says: "That we are investigating, and we are doing it professionally."

6.55pm Merlimau: Still at Kempas Plantation, Rural and Regional Development Minister Shafie Apdal denies BN is using dirty tricks to guard the Indian voters from the Pakatan campaign team.

He brushes off allegations that BN sabotaged a Tamil daily reporter's car, after she reported on the poor living conditions of Merlimau Indian voters.

"In Kuala Selangor, we were prohibited from using the toilet, is that justice?" he exclaims.

At the short press conference, Shafie's aide pretends to be a reporter to feed questions that allow Shafie to elaborate the reasons why Pakatan should be rejected.

BN is targeting the 14 percent of Indian votes in Merlimau to win the seat and with a convincing majority.

6.50pm Merlimau: Lim Kit Siang arrives with much fanfare. He says that the kind of thuggery, falsehoods and slander that has pervaded the campaign thus far, is reason enough for the people to vote for change.

Outside the DAP operations room, PAS supporters are canvassing for votes by waving flags and passing leaflets to vehicles that pass by.

7pm Merlimau : The 1Malaysia NGO is setting up for its dinner at SRJK (C) Merlimau, next door to the DAP operations room and the stage for Lim's speech tonight.

Unlike in other by-elections, the free dinner and show is targeted to Indian voters.

A man waiting for the gates to open says that the NGO came to Indian estates and villages to distribute the tickets.

Inside, workers unload goodies including LCD televisions from the 1Malaysia truck into the school hall.

8pm Merlimau: Former Pulau Pinang deputy chief minister Fairus Khairuddin to deliver an 'expose talk' at Taman Muhibbah.

8pm Kerdau: PKR advisor Anwar Ibrahim is scheduled to attend a dialogue session with residents of Kg Desa Purun at the PAS operations centre there.

8.55pm Kerdau: The ceramah camps of both Pakatan Rakyat and BN get an early start to their ceramah war in Rumpun Makmur, facing their speakers towards each other's camps which are barely 50m apart.

Both sides blared religious music before the masters of ceremony of both ceramahs announced that their events were about to start.

The BN emcee however managed to coax a reaction from the other side, when he announced that Ummi Hafilda Ali was going to expose PKR advisor Anwar Ibrahim's "secrets".

The announcement was met with jeers from the Pakatan camp, but things settled down soon after, with both camps going back to blaring religious songs.

9pm Merlimau: Lim Kit Siang ceramah.

9pm Merlimau: M Kulasegaran and other DAP Indian leaders ceramah in Jasin Lalang.

9pm Kerdau: Ummi Hafilda Ali, the sister of PKR deputy president Azmin Ali, is scheduled to speak at Kg Sekoh in Rumpun Makmur. A flyer promoting her ceramah, claims that she will "expose all of Anwar Ibrahim's secrets".

At the same time, PKR de-facto chief Anwar is expected speak at a ceramah just across the road in Rumpun Makmur, part of his campaign schedule tonight which will take him to three different areas in Kerdau.

9.20pm Kerdau: Ummi Hafilda Ali arrives at BN's ceramah camp in Rumpun Makmur. Her arrival, which was announced by the emcee, was meet with jeers from the Pakatan Rakyat camp.

9.45pm Kerdau: Anwar is still no where to be seen. About 500 people are at the Pakatan ceramah and occassionally jeers at Ummi who is speaking. 

9.40pm Kerdau: PKR Youth exco member Saifullah Zulkifli talks about a Malaysiakini article way back from 2001 titled "I had sex with Ummi in London". The crowd is extremely worked up.

9.40pm Merlimau: CM Mohd Ali Rustam addresses more than 1000 Indians who have come to have free dinner and show at SRJK (C) Merlimau organised by 1Malaysia NGO.

They enthusiastically exclaim that they are will vote for BN and are willing to protect Merlimau from DAP.

Lucky draw items up for grabs tonight are motorcycles, bicycles and electrical items.

1Malaysia NGO usually targets ethnic Chinese voters.

9.40pm Merlimau: The 1Malaysia NGO dinner and a DAP ceramah is next to each other. The DAP ceramah is held on a piece of land next to the school.

Ten speakers are lined up on both events. The crowd can hear from each stage ceraly. The crowd at the DAP ceramah can also get themselves a whiff of the food being served next door.

The crowd is beginning to build up at the ceramah with approximately 500 people.

9.59pm Merlimau: CM Mohd Ali makes light of DAP's claim that his government wasted millions expanding the runway for the Malacca airport which only has 6 flights a week. He says that Pakatan does not realise that Malacca airport has more flights than KLIA.

"Flights go up and down everyday!" he said, referring however to the flight school.

Next door, at the DAP event, MCA is accused of abandoning the Chinese. 

10.00pm Merlimau: PKR vice president Azmin Ali arrives at a DAP event next to the 1Malaysia NGO dinner to applause.

PKR leader Badrul Hisham Shaharin said: "If Najib really knows everything then I want to ask who killed Altantuya?"

The crowd, which spills out to the road, hoots and claps. 

10.10pm Kerdau: Anwar finally arrives at the ceramah and Ummi is still giving her speech. Anwar is met with riotous cheers from the Pakatan crowd.

10.20pm Merlimau: Azmin says he rather work with "clean" ethnic Chinese Pakatan leaders instead of former Selangor Menteri Besar Dr Mohd Khir Toyo, whom he accused of stealing land and shares.

Midway through Azmin speech, DAP supreme Lim Kit Siang arrives and is given a heroes welcome by the crowd.

10.45pm Kerdau: Anwar completes his 30 minute speech. He complete Ummi who is clearly audible and tells the Pakatan crowd to do the same.

"Ignore her. If you make a deal out of her speech, her price will go up from RM500 to RM600," he said in jest.

11.09pm Merlimau: Former Penang DCM 1 Fairus Mohd Khairuddin makes what he claims is the 7th time he is challenging Anwar to a debate on the use of the term "Allah" by non-Muslims.

In the audience is former Penang chief minister Koh Tsu Koon.

Fairus ends his speech to about 200 people by saying that he is ready to lead the BN charge to takeover Penang.

The emcee reminds the audience that their hampers are awaiting after Koh's speech. 

11pm Kerdau: PKR advisor Anwar Ibrahim will speak at a "Ubah Sekarang, Selamatkan Malaysia" ceramah at PKR's operations centre in Felda Jengka 22.

11.20pm Merlimau: At DAP ceramah, some the crowd gives their belated birthday wishes to Lim Kit Siang, who just turned 80. The crowd sings "Happy Birthday to You" in earnest in several languages.

11.30 pm Merlimau: Lim Kit Siang speaks.

He likens the Merlimau by-election campaign into a "fun fair", claiming that BN was bringing out all the dirty tricks. 

11.40pm Merlimau: Lim Kit Siang urges the constituents to vote for PAS, reminding them that the win this time round would pave way for future wins.

He says he has two birthday wishes, one of which is pinned to March 6 which is polling day. He says his birthday wish way back in 2008, was to see Pakatan win in Penang.

On MCA president Chua Soi Lek's refusal to apologise on behalf of the party over the PKFZ scandal that saw two of its former party leaders taken to court, Lim said the apology was necessary as the duo were appointed to their ministerial positions by virtue of being MCA's top leaders.

11.50pm Merlimau: Lim Kit Siang says that the only way to have BN and Umno change their ways is to make Prime Minister Najib the opposition leader.

"By then, do you think MCA can survive? DAP survived for forty-five years," he says.

Day 5: 'You want the Anti-Christ Anwar, Jews to take over?'

Day 4: Anwar sings Tiru Macam Saya to 'someone'

Day 3: BN woos teachers with RM18.4 million bounty

Day 2: Najib blitzes Kerdau Felda areas